Electroluminescence is the so called Destriaut's effect. It is generally based on the layer principle. As it is possible to see in FIG. 1, according to the layer principle, a transparent film is the first electrode. It can be comprised of indium tin oxide 1, deposited on polyester 2. A light generating pigment is deposited on the second layer 3. An opaque insulator 4 is deposited on the pigment. A second electrode 5 is deposited on the insulator 4. The electroluminescence process can be divided into 4 steps: 1) tunnel emission of electrons from the interface between the electroluminescent composition and the surrounding dielectric; 2) acceleration of the high energy (1.5-10 eV) electrons in the electroluminescent composition; 3) impact excitation or impact ionisation of the luminescent centres; and photon emission through radiation due to the excitation and de-excitation process.
The behaviour of electroluminescent devices is very similar to the one of the capacitors and acts according to their laws. Two conductors separated by an insulator form a capacitor and its capacitance C is:C=8.85×10−12εS/e  (1) wherein C is capacitance in farad, ε is the dielectric constant, S is the area and e is the distance.
The amount of energy which can be charged by a capacitor is:W=CE2/2  (2) wherein W is energy in Joules, C is the capacitance in farad, E is the voltage.
Therefore, the amount of energy which can be charged depends more on the applied voltage than on capacitance. This voltage is limited by nature and thickness of the insulator, i.e., by the resistance of the dielectric. When voltage is over a certain threshold the dielectric has a failure between the conductors, which is due to an electric shortage arc. The parallel connection of several capacitors results in the value of the total capacitance being the sum of all capacitances:Ct=C1+C2+C3+ . . . +Cn  (3) On the other hand, the serial connection of several capacitors results in the total capacitance being lower than the lowest capacitor of the sequence:1/Ct=1/C1+1/C2+ . . . +1/Cn  (4) 
Therefore, if there are a lot of elements alternately deposited in an electroluminescent system, they form in fact a lot of serially connected capacitors, so a lower capacitance results than in a single capacitance. However, when an electric field is applied which changes its polarity because it is fed by AC, all electroluminescent layers alternatively light up, with a phase shift, with the minimum energy required by electroluminescent composition, in order to produce light.
Furthermore, a capacitor with a solid dielectric is charged with DC and put in a small circuit for a few seconds. After opening the circuit, it is possible to observe that the capacitor has a new charge at its electrodes. Such a phenomenon derives from a partial absorption of the initial charge of the dielectric. Such an absorption and the restitution by the dielectric do not take place immediately, but depend on the nature of the dielectric, the time between absorption and restitution being submultiples of seconds to several hours.
In the case of the electroluminescent system, adding electroluminescent material increases such an absorption phenomenon, so that a charge build up occurs every phase of charge, notwithstanding the alternative current. Such a phenomenon can be described as a parasitic capacitance and creates problems when it is fed in high frequency.
Such an electroluminescent system has a life not long enough (up to 2,000 hours) and during this life, its brightness is rather low.
Nowadays, the only way to produce a luminescent system is serigraphy, which is a handicraft technique and has a low productivity.